[10/04/10 - 08:26 AM]"Sunday Night Football" Has Best NFL Primetime October Overnight Rating in 10 YearsNBC spins the numbers for Sunday, October 3.

[via press release from NBC]

"SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL" HAS BEST NFL PRIMETIME OCTOBER OVERNIGHT RATING IN 10 YEARS

SNF is No. 1 Broadcast of Sunday Night For 4th Straight Week

14.2 Overnight is Up 19% From Last Year's Week 4 Game

Rating Peaked at 14.9 Just Before Halftime

NEW YORK - October 4, 2010 - Last night's "Sunday Night Football" game recorded the best overnight for an NFL primetime game in October in 10 years and was the No. 1 program on Sunday night for the fourth consecutive week, according to overnight data released today by The Nielsen Company.

"Sunday Night Football" featuring the New York Giants 17-3 victory over the Chicago Bears, earned a 14.2 overnight rating and 22 share (from 8:30-11:15 p.m. ET), the best for an NFL primetime game in October since 10/9/2000 (Buccaneers-Vikings 14.7/23 on ABC).

Last night's game was 19 percent higher than last year's Week 4 SNF game (Chargers-Steelers, 11.9/19).

The rating peaked at a 14.9/22 from 9:30-10 p.m. ET with the Giants taking a 3-0 lead into halftime.

When the viewership is available tomorrow from Nielsen, "Sunday Night Football" is expected to be the most-watched Sunday night show for the fourth consecutive week. Last season, SNF was the most-watched Sunday night primetime broadcast in a record 15 of 16 (94 percent) weeks. In 2008, SNF won 13 of 16 (81 percent) Sunday nights after winning 11 of 16 in 2007 (69 percent) and nine of 16 in 2006 (56 percent).

DOMINATED ORIGINALCOMPETITION: Last night's "Sunday Night Football" broadcast dominated against original programs including ABC's Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters, CBS's 60 Minutes, Amazing Race and Undercover Boss and the season premiere of CSI Miami and Fox's The Simpsons, The Cleveland Show, Family Guy and the season premiere of American Dad.

NBC led the night among metered markets in primetime (7-11 p.m. ET) with a 10.9/17 topping the 8.1/13 for second-place CBS by 35 percent. NBC also beat Fox by 49 percent (7.3/11) and ABC by 76 percent (6.2/10).

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About NBC Sports

NBC Sports is synonymous with superior production that elevates the event, broad promotion, and mutually-beneficial partnerships. Known as America's Olympic Network, NBC has broadcast 12 Olympic Games, more than any other network. Its ability to amass large audiences with broad promotion, particularly for the Olympics, has resulted in NBC Sports broadcasting nine of the top 10 most-watched events in U.S. television history, including the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games which stands at No. 1 all time with 215 million viewers. In 2009, NBC Sports won the prestigious Peabody Award for its production of the Beijing Games and was named 'Best in Sports Television' at the Sports Business Awards.

NBC Sports partners with numerous leagues and governing bodies to broadcast some of the most prestigious properties in sports, including: 'NBC Sunday Night Football,' which is the premier primetime NFL game of the week; 'Football Night in America,' which is the most-watched NFL studio program; Notre Dame football; the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes; the U.S. Open Championship, THE PLAYERS Championship, and the Ryder Cup; the NHL Winter Classic, NHL 'Game of the Week,' and NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs and Final; and Wimbledon and the French Open.